The Profit Prophet

We all talk about the value of having experience in our lives to be either more successful or happy. Throughout the ages, smart people have stated this fact in pithy quotes, and I have listed the top twenty here.   “When a man with money meets a man with experience, the man with the experience gets the money, and the man with the money gets the experience.” --William S. Knudsen “In the business world, everyone is paid in two coins: cash and experience. Take the experience first; the cash will come later.” --Harold Geneen “Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.” --Albert Einstein “Experience is one thing you can't get for nothing.” --Oscar Wilde “Good judgment comes from experience, and often experience comes from bad judgment.” --Rita Mae Brown “You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.” --Albert Camus “Everyone in your life gives you something. The bad ones give you experience, the worst ones a lesson; the good ones give you memories, the best on...

I have read and written a great deal about leadership and being a boss in a corporate setting, and am a big fan of the development of leadership skills in a person’s life. No, not everyone will be a leader all the time, but when you do lead, great leadership makes ordinary people into extraordinary people. So, what is it about leadership that is so important and what are the characteristics that make a great leader? As Orrin Woodward once said, “The only thing tougher than developing leadership skills is attempting to be successful without them.” In that vein, there are seven critical characteristics that make great leaders stand out from other people. What is amazing is that there is nothing super human about them, and any one of us can hone these skills if we do a little practicing every day. Yes, leadership is in all of us if we just put a little effort into it. Optimistically Realistic Napoleon Bonaparte once stated that a leader is a dealer in hope. To take it a bit further, “Th...

I have been reading a lot of articles of late about relationships and seeing some that put men into groups without understanding that men are NOT all alike.  By lumping all men together, the concept of being a gentleman does not come into play. Women, and people in general, have to realize that there are men of character, culture and grace, and then there are boys.  Boys are men who have chosen not to grow up and become wise in the ways of civility, charm, and substance. This post highlights the differences between men and boys.  Ladies, which are you dating? Men, whom are you? Men: See women as the fairer, not weaker, sex Boys: See women as weak and just for sex Men: Realize that to be a leader, you need to be a servant Boys: Only want to be seen as a leader to get the recognition Men: Hold doors, and rise when a woman enters a room or comes to the table, knows how to be a gentleman Boys: Have no idea what those concepts are nor why you should do it for wom...

During my years of working at startups and trying to get funding, I have developed a pretty accurate guide on what it takes to raise money. The main reason why some startups are not successful with certain funding entities or organizations is because there is not a "rightness of fit." What that means is unless you have some incredibly compelling reason for someone to invest with you, that they will look for an excuse not to. I can appreciate that one of your founders may be a friend of one of the potential funding organization’s partners, but unless you are talking directly to the guy or gal who makes the decision to fund or not, you are just wasting time with a gatekeeper, and gatekeepers do not go outside their comfort zone. In addition, too many companies shop their business plans around too much. Yes, maybe you will get lucky, but in between, you are going to get rejected by lots of VCs. The one major potential downside is that the word gets out that your company is ...

I am a big believer in humor and love intelligent word play.  Over the course if my, many, many years, I have run across quite a few truisms and now have listed them here for you to enjoy.  It is not all inclusive, but they are funny, and right now, we all can use a bit of humor.  Enjoy, and I hope you get a chuckle out of them. 1.     If I had a dollar for every girl that found me unattractive, they'd eventually find me attractive. 2.     I find it ironic that the colors red, white, and blue stand for freedom, until they're flashing behind you. 3.     Today a man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation towards the local swimming pool, so I gave him a glass of water. 4.      I changed my password to "incorrect" so whenever I forget it the computer will say, "Your password is incorrect." 5.     Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity. 6.  ...